For starters, there is no need to call reverse. Just use "%-2c" in the sscanf format string for backwards endianness. Secondly, while you can't use "%*c",2 you _can_ use "%"+2+"c", if that is what you need. (Most headers have a fixed format where you know the sizes beforehand though, meaning you can just do something like 'sscanf(fp->read(10), "%-4c%-2c%-2c%-2c", a, b, c, d)'...)
You can also take a look at ADT.Struct, which supports backwards endians through the "Drow" and "Gnol" classes.
